Maneater leopardess shot dead

DEHRA DUN: A leopardess, which the authorities claimed had turned into a maneater and had unleashed terror in Ringalgarh area of Uttrakhand for the past seven months, was shot dead by a team of forest department, a senior official today said.

The three-and-a-half-year-old leopardess was shot dead by a three-member team of forest department led by hunter Lakhpat Singh last night in Ringalgarh area, 17 km from here, Divisional Forest Officer of Mussoorie, A K Banerjee said.

The leopardess had killed two children and injured another two in the area since November 20 last year, he said.

The forest department has been tracking the animal since it took away a small boy on April 21, Banerjee said. However, despite several efforts the beast could not be trapped forcing the department to take a decision to kill it, he added.

Banerjee said that the forest officials are sure that the killed leopardess was a maneater. Postmortem on the body of the animal is being conducted.

The viscera of the leopardess will be sent to the Wildlife Institute of India for its further examination to ensure that the animal was a maneater, the official said.